


Echoes of the Past

by miragoat



Category: Warcraft (2016), Warcraft - All Media Types, World of Warcraft
Genre: Angst, Attempt at smut, Karazhan, M/M, Magic, Smut, character death before story, sad sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-26
Updated: 2016-08-26
Packaged: 2018-08-11 03:28:42
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,317
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7874413
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miragoat/pseuds/miragoat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Devastated by Lothar's death, Khadgar goes to Karazhan.  There, he finds an echo of a younger Anduin Lothar.  Smut inspired by Liontrust chat.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Echoes of the Past

A strange chill lingered through the air in Karazhan, as if the Guardian’s death had also taken all warmth from the lonely tower. In the darkness, a man felt his way through the familiar building, his nimble fingers brushing the stone walls as he wandered through corridor after corridor. He could feel the energy around him flowing though the tower, restless, lingering. There were surely spirits in this tower, remnants of the past and future. He would find them.

When he felt the entrance to what he knew was the library, Khadgar murmured the words to a spell that would light the room. The dull glow of blue arcane light flickered steadily as he surveyed the mess around him. He let himself touch book after book, for he knew that it was here that he would find what he was looking for: some trace of the past to hold on to, something to ease the ache that the dead had left behind.

The tome was crackling with arcane power, and Khadgar knew that it was it. He flipped open the book and watched as the spell took effect. It was something like life that he felt around him, a mockery of life that would sustain an echo. Khadgar knew this, accepted it, but what he saw in front of him was more than what he had been ready for.

It was Anduin Lothar, but not as he remembered him. The man was younger, no older than Khadgar. His dark hair fell to his shoulders in waves, and his blue eyes were shining with none of the grief or weariness that the older Lothar had been weighed down by. Like the older Lothar, he was all muscle, but he was more striking than ever at this age. Khadgar was alone with him.

“Anduin...”

Khadgar closed the distance between them and took Lothar’s hands in his own. Lothar’s brows furrowed in confusion. “Who are you?”

 _Of course he doesn’t know._ “In time, when you are older, we will fight together, and you will come to love me.”

Then, despite Lothar’s confusion, despite knowing that it was a bad idea, Khadgar kissed Lothar. The roughness of Lothar’s facial hair scratched against Khadgar’s face – that, at least, was the same – and with time, Lothar relaxed against him and leaned into the kiss. The feel of Lothar’s lips was just how Khadgar remembered them, and for a moment, he was able to think that things were what they once were. Lothar gripped his waist so tight that Khadgar was sure it would bruise as he slipped his tongue into his mouth. They took a step back, and he felt the rough stone of the wall behind him, but Khadgar didn’t mind, not with Anduin all around him.

Khadgar planted kisses down Lothar’s neck, taking care to be gentle in case the man still had doubts. He traced Lothar’s chest over his shirt, savoring the feel of having someone so muscular in his grasp. He pulled lamely at Lothar’s shirt to try to get it off, and let out a low growl when it was clear that he was failing.

Anduin laughed. “Let me get it, for Light’s sake.” He tossed the shirt across the room.

“Maybe we should move this to the floor,” he suggested.

The marble floor was cold beneath them, but Khadgar was able to cast a spell that made it more accommodating. He crawled on top of Anduin and kissed his way down his chest, stopping only to take a nipple into his mouth. Anduin moaned beneath him, and he let his hands travel all over his chest until he rested them on Anduin’s stomach. He discarded his robes; he was past the need for them.

He brushed his thumbs against Anduin’s waistband. He dared to look up at him again, waiting for permission.

“Don’t wait, just pull them off,” Anduin breathed. Khadgar did as he was told.

Khadgar didn’t know where to begin. He wanted this more than he wanted anything, was almost in pain from the wanting, but he was filled with loathing for himself, knowing that this wasn’t _his_ Anduin and never would be, that the Anduin he loved was dead and there was no guarantee how long he would have this Anduin or what the echo would even want.

Lothar sat up and eyed Khadgar. He was gorgeous, with his flushed face and burning eyes that weren’t so different from what Khadgar remembered. “What, did you change your mind?”

Khadgar shook his head. “No, not at all. I just feel like you’re a stranger, or I’m a stranger to you at least. That’s not right, is it, for me to just pull you into this when we haven’t even met? And I don’t want to take advantage of you, even though I want this more than I’ve wanted anything and I’ve waited so long to see you again-”

Lothar held up a hand to silence him. “You’re thinking too much. Don’t make me wait.”

Khadgar took Lothar in his hand and stroked him, leaving behind all pretense of gentleness as he loses himself in the _feel_ of Lothar’s erection in his hand. This too is the Lothar he remembers, and the eager man responds beneath him with the vigor of youth. It felt new to him even as it felt the same as it always had, and Khadgar’s trepidation was replaced by curiosity about how _other_ things might feel with this young Lothar.

“I want to feel you,” Lothar hissed. Khadgar lowered himself onto Lothar’s body and rubbed himself against him. The feel of Lothar against him was almost enough to send him over the edge, but Khadgar held himself back. He rocked against Lothar eagerly. Lothar’s arms wrapped around his stomach, and he was closer to him than he’d been before, until all he saw and smelled and felt was Lothar. The man’s breathing had become labored and his fingers dug into Khadgar’s back.

“Light, Anduin, don’t stop,” Khadgar gasped. The feel of Anduin against him was intoxicating. He didn’t know if he could last much longer, but he needed the moment to never end, couldn’t bear to know what would happen once it was over.

“Right there – oh, I don’t even know your _name_. Tell me your name.”

“Khadgar,” he said, his voice barely more than a whisper.

“Can’t last much longer, Khadgar, please, together.”

He found his release with his face pressed into Anduin’s shoulder, and he fought to suppress a shout. For a moment he just lay on top of the young man, unwilling to let him go before he had to. He could feel the rise and fall of Anduin’s chest under him, and it was like falling in love with him all over again. This might not be his Anduin, but he _felt_ right somehow, different but the same to the Anduin he still grieved.

“I don’t want you to fade,” he admitted. “I know that most echoes don’t last long, but there has to be a way to keep you here. I’ll do everything in my power.”

“Nothing worth having lasts forever,” Anduin told him. One of the man’s hands found its way into his hair. “You’ll find your way without me.”

“Thank the Light that the book has unlimited uses,” Khadgar said. “I don’t know how I’ll cope… between.”

“You’ll cope.”

“How can you know that?”

Lothar kissed his forehead. “Because I know.”

He felt that some part of him was reduced when Lothar faded away, as if a piece of him still rested with Lothar. It was as if he had died all over again, but at least this time he knew that he might steal more time with Lothar over again. He fluttered away from Deadwind Pass on his raven’s wings, searching for a way to pass the days until he could feel okay again.


End file.
